How to catch, clean, and cook Bowfin the right way
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ต.ค. 2020
- this video is one I've been wanting to make for a while due to the lack of information on cooking this fish. Bowfin which has many other names depending on where your from is actually a really good fish with a more meaty texture when prepared right . i show here how to catch with plastic baits and how to prepare this fish. enjoy
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So glad to see someone that knows how to cook grinnel, my grandmother cooked it the same way.
I have several bowfin videos. Its one of my favorites
Thank you for this video, NOW, I know how to clean and cook them!!
In Louisiana we call them choupique one of the best fish you can eat. Love the video keep up the good work 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽
You not catching them shackale are you ,if the spelling is right
We call these Dogfish up here in Michigan where I'm from. Never ate one but you have inspired me to try.
It’s literally my favorite one to eat. I love crappie and catfish but this has a different texture. More meaty than fishy
Yeah, same here in New York we called it Dogfish. I released everyone I ever caught I was told they were no good to eat. They are a great sport fish a lot of fun to catch. I will try one make sure it doesn't set to long.
Really enjoyed your video good to see someone who knows their stuff. Shout-out from Scotland 👍.
Awsome to hear from you. My ancestors are Scots-Irish
bro you are a pro!!! i caught one yesterday and fried it right after i came home it gives me a hard time cleaning it!! but it tasted really good :)
thank you. they are my favorite fish. a little practice and you will have the cleaning it good. ive been targeting them for over 20 years
Brother you did a great job with everything in this video. Learned a better way to cut the ribs and fin bones out of my fillets. God Bless you and your Family.
Fried fish roe is great! Leave the roe sac whole and bread and fry them the same way as the nuggets.
Great video dude! Your accent is awesome and you have a good vibe.
Thank you my friend
Can't be fresher than this. Great video.
You can pat it dry. Batter it good and vacuum seal it and freeze it but it definitely is best to cook right after cleaning
H&H white spinner bait has worked for me the last 40 years! Great fight every time they attack the spinner bait. Also use bluegill cut bait. Great video-Thanks!
Thank you . Glad you enjoyed it
Here in southwest Alabama, we can expect to catch lots of them, we use black plastic worms....
I know where I’m coming when I need filleting/cooking tutorials! Great video!
Thank you
that look so good ya had my tounge beaten my brains clean out of my head. Thanx for the learnen my Brother !
Thank you
Nice sharing I love your beautiful video
thank you. your advise seems to be the best for bowfin. liked your cooker too... thx again
Thank you
Thank you very much .
I love this .
Catch fishes to eat to keep your family is the great thing .
Left hand throwing is very cool .
Jul. 26th Wed. 09:44 am
from Yokohama City Japan
Excellent video! I have just discovered that we have a few places here in PA that have Bowfin and now I'm wanting to catch some and try eating them. You make the preparation and cooking look so easy. Thank you for the informative video, I cant wait to try this! subbed
Ive got a great bowfin video uploading as we speak that will premiere tomorrow at 12 central be sure to check it out
This was a much better video than I thought it would be in the beginning. Really excellent production.
Thank u for sharing this video! It has inspired me to try Bowfin. We call'em Bowfin here in Central Illinois, as well.
My son and i wanted to try Asian carp snd I tell you what, they are really delicious! Yes, a few little bones. But very tasty 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks for the education on the bowfin. I want to try it but haven't had the chance to yet. New fan here, Thanks
Thank you . Glad to have you here.
Im from Louisiana this a great video. You can put it in water but you need 10% vinegar and cold water. And yes you have to eat it that same day
Appreciate the video! Never knew this dish was good to eat. Guess it’s time to go fishing! Cheers,
My wifes favorite fish. She likes it fried. I do too but I love it in a red stew. I like to fry the back bone and put it in the stew.
I caught my PB last night @12:30 man thank you so much for this video
Glad you enjoyed it . Thank you for watching
First time being first. I’m always looking for new bowfin videos. I’m not sure I’d eat them but thanks for the tutorial.
Try them once at least. They are delicious. Thanks for watching
Have you ever rinsed yours in vinegar? I grew up with the older family that usta put the meat in a bowl of vinegar while cleaning the rest and one of my earlier memories of eating Bowfin ( Choupic here ) was how refreshing the flavor was. It's my favorite fish as well even above redfish and speckled trout.
I have not but I recently had a man from down there comment and tell me about vinegar
*I don't believe you sir, that you ve eaten bowfin. In fact, I think this video is faker than a made in china rolex. Spirit must have switched the fillets with some other fish before dropping them into the grease*
Yes that’s how I was taught vinegar ice and water
We call em choupic here in south louisiana too
That big. ALABAMA A is perfect for the lead in on this video.
Bowfin are some of the hardest fighting fish you’ll catch here in Alabama where I’m at. First time I caught one I wasn’t sure what it was so I lipped it. Needless to say it felt like needles going in my thumb so I took my hand out of its mouth quick like
I had to learn that same way when i was a kid. Dad said dont do that mo more
Roll Tide! Love your video, greetings from Thomasville!
you know your fishing when after you land your first one you are completely covered in Alabama marsh. Great video ! Great fish to catch and eat....one of the best... ok correction mississippi lol
We say Missippi lol but yea hoss i cant catch one without lookin like we had a fist fight on the bank
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors 4:40 am here, heading to Bluegrass pits here in southern indiana. Let the spirit of however you wanna spell Mississippi grant us kitties!
@@indianacreekwalker4474 man i hope yall wear em out. Lord let em catch a wheelbarrow load or two.
3.5months till ice out for us up north. I love The cold and snow but gawwd damn i cant wait for gettin muddy chasin fish, frogs and turtles. Cattail corn and curly fern in butter. This vid is like getting excited for christmas in august.....thanks ya sob.
Glad you enjoyed it . Its summer here the last 2 days but tomorrow we gonna have winter again for a few days
From a good ol boy in Canada , I gotta tell ya I really enjoyed the video. One of my favourite fish to eat is Northern pike. Most people here throw them back cause they don't know how to clean or cook them properly , just like your bowfin. Cheer's
I think that pike it close related to our chain pickerel
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors Your right! We have them here too. When I was growing up we called them grass pike. Good to chat with you. I feel people are the same in a lot of way's no matter how many miles and border's seperate us. I love to fish and feed my family, cause family is everything! I'll be watching and liking your video's. Take care.
I've never tried not putting water on the fish but I will try it! This is how I do it. Bowfin is best eaten out of cold water but any water can be ok but whether cold or warm water make sure you keep it alive until you are ready to clean it. The key to cooking Bowfin is ice water but never freeze it when it's raw! You can bleed it if you want but it's not necessary. After you clean it put it right back into ice water until you cook it. To clean the Bowfin fillet the meat off the bone and then fillet the skin off to meat cut it up in pieces then into ice water. To cook roll it in corn meal mix or batter how ever you prefer and deep fry. You can also mix onion bell peppers eggs bread crumbs or cracker crumbs and make fish cakes or fish balls and fry. If you freeze the raw Bowfin it will turn into mush and if you don't ice it after death it will turn into mush. It's nothing like crappie as some people say and if you are expecting that you will be disappointed. Its not a flakey meat it's a dense meat and very good. If you want to freeze Bowfin cook it with either method you prefer until it's 3/4 done or completely done then freeze it. To eat remove from the freezer and finish frying.
Dude we used to catch these on trot lines white spinnerbaits cut bait chicken liver biggest one I ever landed was on a buzzbait right about dark! What a thrill and disappointment as I thought it was huge lunker bass! Never knew how to properly clean eat these….man I’d love to get down there And do a catch and eat! You Guide? 😅 great video man!
My daddy's baby brother caught a grinnel that was almost 10 pounds on one of the old Zebco mechanical scales that folks used to keep in their tackleboxes on a cane pole! He fought that fish for almost 5 minutes before he wore him down enough to drag him up on the beaver dam. he was bass fishing and was using the cane pole with minnows to catch a white perch or two when that monster grinnel hit his minnow
That’s crazy how much that looks like my old friend Tony Hall down here in NW Florida
This is how my gf and I fillet our bowfin!! We rins the fillets off right before we batter them though because they bleed like a stuffed pig and shit everywhere while on the cutting board lmao. it happens every time right before I fillet them and during, there's just no way around it. The bowfin up here in Minnesota seem to be a bit more mushy too and have some nasty red flesh on the skin side of the fillets though so I've gotta spend extra time cutting that red skin off.. maybe I'll have to try using an electric fillet knife so the process is a bit quicker.
Here in SE Georgia, I saw Bert from Berts’Jigs fishing on t
He Satilla River fishing for bowfin. He was using a top water spinner and tearing them up.
Thank you for making this video! I will have to try your techniques the next time i catch a dogfish
You can buy the old style spouts for gas cans, or you could just use a funnel.
Funnel falls out. This way is faster and easier for me
29 April in Northern Minnesota and still a foot of ice on the lakes. Can't wait to get me a Dogfish. That's what we call them. Nobody eats them here. We eat walleye and northern pike. Crappies and bluegills, too.
You may have to start a forest fire to get the ice melted lol. No dont do that
Heck YEAH make some tshirts with your logo!!!!!
I spent about a half hour looking through your site trying to find it!
I have an etsy store. It is linked in all new videos
ive found if you put them in ice water, they will stay alive but go dormant. It also firms up the meat.
I caught on of those 45 years ago in NY and fish and we didn't know what it was. Fish and game told us it was a Bowfin and didn't know how they got there as it was a southern fish. There aggressive and get real big. I saw one open its mouth around a canoe paddle. Later a deep aquifer was found in that area and I was told divers went down then abruptly came out and said they don't dive with swimming trees.
Must have been some big ones in there
i cought one in a creek here in tn on a number 13 rapala abut six pounds .i dont keep a net in my boat and had herd of a bowfin but never seen one. he hit top water i thought it was a 10 pound bass. fought like hell got it to the boat and figured it had teeth .well it swam away with my rapala but you make me want to go back and try them again. but bring a net lol that meat looks good
Man they fun to catch
Outstanding video, I enjoyed it. Make someT Shirts.
You not gonna believe this but we made that happen this week. I have one in now and next week ill have prices with shipping included . I only have large and X large but im gonna take orders for a week and then have another run made. They are grey and white
Awesome 😎
Thank you
We call em Dogfish up here in mich. Much bigger challenge than bass. Fuckers are strong.
Yes they are. Im learning lots of new names for them. Im ready to film another go at em
My martial arts teacher got me to fishing for game fish I was always into trotline or jugging but he taught me that presentation was 75% of the game so he showed me these hooks one day call keeper hooks they're amazing I like using them with flukes or lizards really any soft bait I think they go up to a 4/0
Email me a pic of them to justinpeden@gmail.com
I would like to know where that name came from and what does Grennel mean. We always called them dog fish because they would croak like a catfish but they don't have whiskers so we always said they were growling like a dog. Also a mud trout becasue I've seen alot of inexperienced fisherman up north mistake the bowfin for trout so that's where mud trout came from or just a mud fish because they do like swampy muddy waters. But not always they do like clean rivers as well plus they don't eat crap like people think there just like a northern pike they are aggressive they hunt there food they will eat dead fish as well just like any other predator fish in fresh water. But all that being said where did the bame Grennel come from if I spelled that wrong i apologize but still would like to know the meaning.
Huge bowfin down here in Florida black water
I am 73 and I remember my grand daddy and how he handled them. When he caught one, Ol' Alec he called him, he went straight home and cleaned and cooked it. He never put water on his. But, he had to cut the scales off with a kitchen knife.
He knew what he was doing
I freeze it sometime but the secret is to batter it and put it in a single layer on a sheet pan and freeze. Once frozen put it in a zip lock bag. When you ready to fry go from freezer to hot grease do not defrost it.
Ive been hearing that. Im gonna try it this summer if i can refrain from eating it all
This is a great video. I've got some spots in here in Virginia that produce good size bowfin and snakehead. If I put the fish on ice and then drive about an hour do you think that meat would be alright? I've never ate grinnell but I want to try it.
I would put in a cooler with the water they came out of and not use the ice. These fish are very resilient and will live in a cooler of water for a couple hours.
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors thanks bud
Heck of a video, if they call you a red neck, I'M kin. Went catching catfish Wright Patman Lake and was catching big 10 plus lb grinells and everyone was like kill it. So I had to youtube it. So when I catch another one I'll try it your way, Cajuns know.
Man thats the best eating fish in the water by a long shot. Crappie and catfish dont come close.
I live in Minnesota and think catching bowfin is quite fun but wouldn't eat them. They're high in mercury, so high it could cause mercury poisoning in a dog if fed to one. But you've inspired me to possibly try it.
Lord ive ate enough of it it should have killed me by now. Lol
Another fun fact the bowfin is the only living creature that's been around since the dinosaurs 70 million years
My that’s a pretty long time
Almost correct. Sturgeon and gar have been around for yhe same time big dawg.
They look and fight just like a snakehead. Snakehead are escape artists, I live in Maryland some of the best snakehead fishing in the country
Great video!! Unfortunately I washed the meat from my bowfin and it turned to mush. Thought about mixing it with seafood coating bread mix and making bowfin cake patties and fry up in oil. Not sure what to do. Never ate Bowfin. LOL My bowfin was 18" and weighed 2.50 lbs. Got decent amount of meat out of it.
If you had been ready to fry when you washed it you could have gotten away with it. It cant soak and it speeds the break down of the meat. The main thing is keep the fish alive untill you are ready to clean and cook it
Enjoyed the video. Not sure you gotta get that gas in your mouth in order to fill the tank though. Might change the taste of the fish ha but i don't mess with the nozzles either. They make a funnel that works great.
This thing comes out so straight a funnel wont stay in it nut i have a jug with a goos spout i normally use but it was empty this day so I decided to have a little fun with it lol
Nice, thanks..
Thanks going to get me a electric fillet knife asap
In the spring time after the swamp falls back in the banks, you can find those big females and behind them you'll see a school of babies following her. Wade out there with a dip net and catch the small ones and put them in a bait tank. They make some good live bait fir Catfish.
My hear wont let me do that. Id much rather them grow so i can have grinnel instead of catfish.
I know where nashoba county Mississippi is, worked off shore with 3 Duncan brothers that were from there in the late 80s.
You ever hear of paul peden . He was a tool pusher out there
Good education my brother
Thank you .
reminds me of dicing up a Texas redfish
Cajun tip is place the meat in ice cubed ice cold water with some white vinegar and the meat will firm up and can be stored a few hours before cooking if need be.
Ive been scared to try water. I had seen it literally drip through my fingers
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors It has to be a bowl of ice cold water with ice cubes/1/4c vinegar and trust me it wont fall apart, it will get a stiffer texture.
@@LouisianaBlackwaterFlyFishing thank you i will try it. I have a new Bowfin video to come out Friday
Love everything about this video. From catching and cooking the grinnel to having the family over to enjoy it! Good stuff bro!
Good video and knowledge. What state you're fishing in this video?
Oh I see you're from my state. Yeah, we call them Grinnell here in the Sipp. But I can't seem to find a good spot to catch em. At least around Grenada lake.
Im in the Nanih Wayiah WMA . I live right near it
There's a technique to wash bowfin. get a bowl of ice water and some vinegar to help firm the meat then batter and fry.
ive never herd of that . i did see a man rince one off and cook it right away . but if you tell people they can then they leave it in a bowl of water 15 min and wonder what happened lol
So if I lived a hour away from where I fish would it still be good ? I fish maybe 4 or 5 hours could I put them on ice for that long ?
I would not . Fill the cooler with water from where it was caught and it will live a few hours that way. They are a resilientfish
We call those grindel or grinner in southeast Texas though some of the youngsters lately are using bowfin
Here we say Grennel. In Louisiana they call it shoepique and alabama calls it scallycat. Some dogfish or mudfish
Hey where did you get your fryer from ? How is it set up ?
Its a bayou classic fryer we got at a local farm supply for about $300. We all got it for my dads birthday and he cooks the fish . So win win
What size & type line do you run on your Baitcaster setup?
I run 15 big game trilene .
Definitely the best freshwater fish to eat its not even close
Aint that the truth .
My Grandma use to make into what appeared to look like Salmon patties, but taste better. She called them Black Fish.
Ive had that in the past. Keep the fish alive till your ready to clean it and then cook right then as well and its mych better grilled or fried
what i have done in the past is use a water bottle and mist some water on the fish before you pat it dry. helps remove everything just a tad bit cleaner.. wife required something .... :(
Yes i agree and ive seen it washed but it has to be lightly and cooked right away
Yep that's the same 4 felt knife I got too gives you two pieces off each side of any fish you clean ..
i see folks with thes expencive knives and shake my head lol
23:44 this is the way!
I live in Maryland, we have northern snakehead...very similar to bowfin, might even be related. one of the best fish to eat is snakehead
Ive never had snakehead
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors if there was a way to mail u some I would, they're out of hibernation now. No special preparation or anything, fillet them like any other fish. They serve it at some restaurants here in Maryland now. It's better then rockfish
@@theperfectpaintertoolreview i think our muddy water affects much of our fish. When its flowing good they are better tasting but it could also be water temp i guess. These bowfin taste best of what we have and many folks to hardheaded to eat them
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors I hear ya, that's probably 100% true. People don't know how to prepare bowfin like u do and they hear the rumors so have a negative image in there head before even trying them. They look almost exactly like snakehead and everyone here loves snakehead meat. Snakehead don't get mushy with water tho. I wish it was possible to mail u some snakehead, I would.
@@theperfectpaintertoolreview me and you both wish you could mail it. Ill try anything a time or three
What's the best way to transport them from the catch site if you have to travel a ways home?
I use a cooler filled with the water they came from. These are tough fish and can live several hours in very little water
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors Was looking through our regulations (Ontario, Canada) and unfortunately we are not allowed to transport live sportfish (prevents the spread of disease and fish into non-native waters) without a license (looking into that now). In your opinion, what would be the next best option for processing these fish? I was thinking gill bleed and then into plastic on/in an ice slurry. The plastic would prevent them from being exposed to the water in the ice slurry. Travel time would be about an hour to an hour and a half.
You will need to cook it immediately. This fish tends to turn to mush if its dead a while and the meat texture changes as well as the taste. I would be prepared to cook at the waters edge . Maby grill the fillet on foil
I will do a video on grilling or fire cooking soon
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors Yeah, that would work in some circumstances. The texture and taste wouldn't survive an hour trip on ice? Now I'm really interested in what causes this change.
never suck hold your hand over the can opening and blow pressure into the gas can and it will force gas out of the hose
We called them choupique in Louisiana
Most folks eat em down there to dont they. I found out them yankees dont know what to do with em at least shawn kelley dont
I always try to keep them alive in water till I get home , clean them immediately soak meat in vinegar ice water then cube up and fry immediately! Comes out good!
Does the vinegar affect the taste at all
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors no
I love chopic
This guy is my long lost brother im a Florida boy but I like his style
man im glad you enjoyed it . i have a more recent video on bowfin thats better than this one. thanks for watching
I know that fish came out tasting good. That's how I like to clean and cook mines.
man yea , its my favorite
I caught one bowfin in my and he was a fight. Michigan fisherman here
My grandma also called them cypress trout. Tried to eat some once and when chewing it it seemed to get bigger and bigger. Not a fan , but yours might be better 😂
Its not as much on how you cook them but how you handle them prior to cooking but everyone is not gonna like em even cooked right just like some people dont like steak rare and some dont like it well done lol nothing wrong with not liking something
I would buy one of your shirts if you could get one in size 6xl. I’m a big boy.
Ive put that off because of what it cost to just order a few but i may try before Christmas being i may could sell enough now to justify ordering enough to make the cost affordable
Bowfin are ever present in S.C. low country, some are quite large (20+ pounds)our common term is mudfish due to the flavor imparted and to my knowledge and others there is no good way to cook them.
894th subscriber!!! Woulda been better if I was 900 though
Thank you for subscribing
You gotta put opossum up and feed him corn, til the tongue turn pink. Then eat him
My uncle put em under a wastub for a few days with corn. Id rather eat the grennel 😂
Down here in Louisiana we calm shoe pic don't know if that's the right spelling but that's what they call an XU pick never A1 but I heard they're really good I called several between 5 and 7 lb lost several to and yeah they got some teeth on and stick your finger in there
Just use some talapia on a circle hook, it’s easier and they bite way faster, I’m in florida thoe so maybe it’s different where u stay
Big minnows work the best here. Alive on a big cork. But my specialty is plastics and to show how to catch them. I try to make it challenging. Its hard to fish with minnows here and keep them off your line
Oh ok yea see if I threw a minnow I’d get crappie. It’s crazy how different things vary state to state.
Oh ok yea see if I threw a minnow I’d get crappie. It’s crazy how different things vary state to state.
"Spit the gas out" the man says.
You hafta warn everybody about everything these days lol
We call them muddfish in Florida
What ! You didn't let us stick round for supper.. Whatcha serve with it ?
Don't think my buddy larry would follow your directions. He felays crappie, then put emin a freezer bag with a pinch of salt water and puts em in tha freezer. Tastes kinda like crap to me, but I don't tell him that.. If my writtin is odd, I spell the way it sounds..
I love your spelling . Im from Missippi cause thats how we say it. I freeze a few crappie along but not many. And catfish . But bowfin is a finiky fish and you gotta cook it at once. Thanks for watching and hopefully ill have shirts this spring
Had to pause at 1:20 to mentally prepare myself whether I wanted to spend the next 43 minutes taking advice from a guy that huffs gas! lol jk, nice video. (in all seriousness folks, take his advice and don't drink the gas. It will kill you).
Lol we have a lot of fun on this channel. But we catch fish and harvest game.
As you noticed in this video, he didn’t show himself eating that grin. Lying guy. But he did probably eat them fiddlers 😂😂
😂😂😂 you really think i went to all the trouble and didnt eat it? 😂😂😂😂😂
@@SpiritoftheOutdoors I didn’t see you eat it, but I did see you add them great fiddlers in afterward. My daddy said they we pretty good if they were real hot and you were really hungry, as he had to eat them to survive as a child. But I NEVER seen him eat one as an adult, and we have caught 100’s of them dang things. But your meat looked ok. I want to see you eating them. I’m from Missouri, show me.
@@haroldrogers6566 scroll through my fishing videos. Ive eaten plenty of them . Its honestly the best eating fish there is
I’m from Edinburg
I know where that is
There's no need to wipe the metal sharpening dust off the knife. If you wet it and cook it immediately, you'll probably be dead
You confuse me lol